Stop Dog Chewing The Leash – Free Video

If you are having problems with your dog chewing on the leash while walking take a look at the video above. In it, dogtrainer Doggy Dan is showing a very simple trick to stop a dog from chewing the leash. What he does is simply changing the leash for a chain. The dog still has a soft collar around her neck so she does not feel any discomfort there but chewing her leash suddenly becomes a lot less appealing. er. It is essential for any dog training that the dog knows its owner is the packleader.

Below you will find out why your dog is chewing, tugging the leash and a few more tips on how to stop it.

Do you recognise this scenario? You have put the leash on your dog she is really exited and before you have gotten anywhere, she jumps up and starts biting, tugging and chewing her leash?? You pull the leash, tell her to stop but it does not seem to do any good, in fact she is just getting more exited and starts chewing, biting and pulling even more.

This is of course making your walk difficult so how do you stop it? Let us see why dogs do that and how to stop dog chewing the leash.

Why dogs are chewing and biting the leash

There are a few different reasons why dogs chew and bite their leash. Dogs by nature tend to release stress or execces energy by mouthing or jumping. If a dog has a high level of energy and is really exited just before the beginning of the walk then the dog needs a way to release all that stored energy, and tugging, biting and chewing the leash is a way to release all that stored energy.

Some dogs are over aroused and this case the easiest way to release tension is to bite the leash. So to much energy, exitement or arousal are common reasons why dogs chew their leashes.

Other dogs chew the leash to get attention. In this case if the dog is walking calmly she is not getting attention and pulling and chewing the leash is simply a way to get attention. For some dogs negative attention is better than no attention at all.

Then there are dogs who simply like carrying something in their mouths and for them the leash comes in handy as some sort of pacifier.

So How do you stop your dog from chewing the leash?

Reprimanding your dog for chewing or biting the leash does not really work. Instead you should reward the dog for doing the right thing and walking calmly beside you.

There are many ways of teaching your dog to walk correctly on a leash without biting, chewing or jumping up, but there are a few which that have been especially successful in helping people to stop chewing leash.

Often, dogs chew the leash because they haven’t been shown something better. So instead of reprimanding your dog for chewing and biting,you should teach him to relax and stay calm whenever he sees the leash. You could begin by touching the leash while it’s still hanging on the wall, without touching it or picking it up. Then you should be ready to reward your dog for its calm behavior Be ready to reward your dog for her calm behavior. Show her affection or give her a little treat for staying calm, that is standing still laying down or sitting. Then while your dog stays relaxed, you touch and move the leash at the same time as you continue continuing to reward her calm behavior. You move on by practicing to move the leash around your dog.

Now when your dog is all calm, you can clip the leash on her. She will then learn that the leash is an object for calmness and relaxation and not exitement.

Next thing to do is to teach your dog to walk calmly by your side in a heel position while the leash is off. The best way to start is somewhere where there is not too much distraction preferably in your house or garden. Once you have taught your dog to heel when asked, you start using the leash. You can start out by rewarding calm behavior just as you have previously trained. Once you have clipped the leash on you right away cue the heel. If your dog starts biting, chewing or tugging the leash, you immidiately stop and completely ignore her. This will both stop the walk and also the reward of your attention. As soon as your dog lets go of the leash, you reward her.

Rewarding your dog for good behavior is an effective tool when training your dog. Usually treats works the best but some playful dogs will respond really well if they are rewarding by playing.

How you respond to your dog’s pulling is another thing to consider. If your dog is pulling or chewing the leash and you are pulling back and trying to regain control of the leash, it is going to make it even more fun for your dog who will consider it a game. So by ignoring your dog’s pulling and chewing and stopping the walk, you are going to take the fun out of the pulling. If your dog pulls the leash you let go of it and take a good grip of the drag line. If the dog grabs the drag line, take a good grip on the leash and leave the drag line. This way the game of tug stops.

You can try to bring a toy on the walk. In case that your dog simply likes carrying something in her mouth this will refrain her from grabbing the leash.

.Try these tricks and see if it will stop your dog from pulling the leash. If nothing of this works you should try a training program with a professional dog trainer. I propose you check out my review of the online dogtrainer.

Good luck and if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.

Comments 6

Hi, Jojo, I couldn’t agree more with you about the best way to train a dog is to reward them for doing good instead of yelling at them. They are more likely to respond to the threats than getting hit or yelled at.
Thou I know at times they can make me a little made and my anger will come out, but I do my best not to yell. After all, they just want to play.
Great post,
Kim

Yes, if training is done correctly the dogs really want to do what you ask them instead of doing it because they are scared. Any relationship be that between humans and dogs or between humans must be based on mutual respect and understanding

This is interesting information. My dogs do not chew on their leash, but I have one dog I watch, Zack that wants to do this constantly while walking him. I give my dogs lots of chew sticks and doggie chew bones. They have these to chew on all the time. I think I will try this with any that I am watching that has this bad habit. I hope it helps, and thanks for the great information!

Interesting article on dogs chewing the leash and the video is very helpful as well, I have had experience of dog chewing the leash in all my dogs as puppies, but they outgrew that habit once they were older. I agree it does little good fighting with a dog chewing a leash, pulling is a bad thing also a dog will associate its time on the leash as play time with you.

Yes,puppies play all the time and some will outgrow the habit but others will go on chewing and biting the leash. You are right about pulling the leash yourself, it will only make it even more fun for the dog and like you say the leash will be associated with playing.